Strengthening public health through knowledge cascading from professional exchange visits

Abstract

Background

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) designed a professional exchange visit program on preparedness to provide hands-on learning for public health experts in Member States, promoting skill development, knowledge exchange and cascading of knowledge. In 2024, Luxembourg, Portugal, and France hosted 2-5-day visits with experts from Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Portugal, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Italy and Spain.

Objectives

The objective of the program is to select and group experts, support hosting sites in organizing workshops, stimulate discussions by sharing experiences from ECDC and WHO, and encourage cascading activities at national and regional levels which can be challenging but are fundamental.

Results

Quantitative and qualitative data from follow-up webinars, 6-12 months after the exchange visits, showed positive outcomes, with knowledge being effectively cascaded. Examples include the newly implemented Public Health Emergency Preparedness Assessment (PHEPA), preparations for mass gatherings such as the Olympic and Paraolympic games in France and creation of general practitioner's centres in Luxembourg during the COVID-19 pandemic and PHEPA's preparation in Portugal. Cascading events included internal and interprofessional meetings and reports. Challenges included time constraints, competing agendas and translating lessons for regional levels.

Conclusions

To guarantee that there is an impact on capacity building for public health in Europe that supports the European dimension in public health cooperation and preparedness, we conclude that cascading activities must be introduced and supported throughout the whole process of the exchange. Success factors include the design of the curriculum, time allocated to prepare the cascading during the exchange and follow-up activities to support the implementation.

Key messages

• Knowledge cascading is vital for public health capacity building. Key factors include integrating it into the curriculum, allocating time, and supporting implementation with follow-up activities.

• ECDC designed a professional exchange visit program on preparedness to promote skill development, knowledge exchange, collaboration, and cascading of knowledge at national and regional levels.